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Elrond let the gang decide when to leave, providing hospitality and medical care until they're ready. When the quest calls to them and they know it'll tug them along soon, he makes sure each is fully supplied and armed with weapons of their choosing, some custom made. They each have a pack, food supplies, and extra clothing. All of them get offered sturdy boots, even those who have stranger body types like Filbo.

He gives the group four copies of a book transcribed with the prophecies that had been brought to Rivendell, to be studied and interpreted on their journey.

Those who mentioned knowledge of the One Ring are briefly pulled aside away from the guests at Elrond's Council. They're implored to keep it secret, for the knowledge of Frodo's task could lead to people trying to steal the Ring when he's on a journey to destroy it.

Crowley is also released from the dungeon, with Elrond apologizing for the Elves' caution. It's at least clear he's been shown some of the same hospitality. He's healed up, well fed, and clothed in replacement clothes just like they all are.

Elrond's final goodbye to the whole group is warm and genuine.

"Namárië. It is a word we use for greetings and goodbyes. It means 'be well.' Whether you seek to help this world or try to find a way home, it is our hope that whatever paths you tread fly beneath your feet, and whatever obstacles you face are quickly overcome."

A pause.

"It would be easy to try to make you feel that the hopes of those in this new world go with you; but such burdens should only be carried by those who choose it. The Green will not admit it, but they have done you a great wrong. If you try to only find your way home, it's justified, and I hope you do find it."

Yes, there are prophecies, but making people do something by force is wrong, and all weary travelers deserve to find their way home. After a brief time of saying any goodbyes, they get to make their way to the other side of the valley. On the other side of the pass is the castle the Green spoke about.

The castle is a Frankenstein monstrosity that seems cobbled together from many buildings and machines. The second the last of the gang piles inside, it starts moving, massive legs clanking along. But where it's going is unknown. At least that means they have time to explore, rest, and get settled.

There are many mystical objects and mysteries within. One half of the castle seems to be a strange frozen realm of faerie, with strange sights to explore. But even the warmer side of the castle has its oddities. Magic waterfalls that show memories, and a scrying pool that shows frozen images of home, locked to the times each member of the squad left theirs. There are magical doors that lead to sights beyond the imagination, strange collections and even entire small realms, some beautiful, some dangerous.

The three magical creatures, Jonald, Ronald, and Rolkien constantly get underfoot trying to get the group settled, but refuse to talk about their former master, seemingly hurt at his leaving the castle.

The castle also seems to like assigning roommates for some of the group, making it so doors only open to their assigned room anytime they try to go to a place to sleep, even teleporting to them to the room if they fall asleep elsewhere.

It's a strange place, sometimes dangerous, sometimes annoying, but at least they have even more time to rest, train, plan, and prepare. They will have a few weeks to adjust to their new normal.

Then...who knows where the road will take them.
OOC DETAILS
❧ Prompts. The mods aren't doing prompts, but players can check out the page on the Moving castle for inspiration. The castle has many mysteries and oddities and absolutely anything can be behind the magical doors.

❧ Food and water. The castle seems to have an internal pressurized water supply and food is plentiful...for now. The food supply will not last forever but some food was left behind by the castle's previous occupants. There there's enough for a long break without hunting. There is some fresh food that's rotten and needs to be thrown away but whoever lived here clearly knew how to keep food prepared. There are cooking oils, flour, and sugar for bread and baked goods. There is jerky of various types of meats, dried fruit, sun-dried tomatoes, stores of nuts, jars of preserved fruit and jams (and empty jars to make more), and hard cheeses that need only a little mold cut off them to still be edible. Some of the jars have confit, meat cooked and preserved in lard, or garlic preserved in oil. A small root cellar has a few barrels of potatoes, parsnips, and onions.

It also has some barrels of beer and bottles of wine.

There are also dried herbs hanging in bundles from the kitchen ceiling, jarred pickled vegetables, and vinegar for pickling more. There are also fresh veggies the group can harvest together. The gardens will not be infinite in supplying the group but luck has it that many vegetables are ripe for harvest right now. The squad can pick juicy tomatoes, green beans, peppers, carrots, radishes, blackberries from a small thicket, squash, and plenty of zucchini. The garden does need tending to stay healthy. Aside from harvesting from it, weeds need to be pulled, beans and tomatoes need to be trellised, spoiled veggies on the ground need to be tossed away.

❧ Bathing. There is no soap other than what the Elves may have given them but there are hot baths. The water has to be heated on a fire down the hall and carried to the tubs.

❧ Weather/Atmosphere: The air outside and inside is on the warmer side. Even though the stone is cool, the cooking fires warm the air to something comfortable. The air outside in the gardens is warm and sunny, with the occasional cool breeze due to the altitude.

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CT has her face in her hands again, breathing evenly, taking a moment to process everything they're each saying. Saturday's right, there's pros and cons to both, but it's the explanation of why it'd be understandable for him to blow up if he found out they were doing this behind his back that gets to her. Almost bothers her. Because she's also specifically not wrong that there's some thin ethical lines here.

"...I— I don't know. I'm not sure if he'd agree if talked to openly. He has every reason to doubt people's motives and even if he didn't, he might not want to change at all. But I don't..."

She makes a frustrated noise, drags her hands down her face and folds her arms again.

"When you put it like that, I don't like the idea of basically doing a lesser version to him of what he did to me and my friends. Coercing him into something he wouldn't agree to. Trying to nudge him the way we want him to go without him really knowing. I know it's not the same, and that sometimes you have to turn someone's own tools against them, but that does feel... wrong."

Elle sighs, thinking.

"I think... If we're able to frame it without making ourselves his white knight saviors, we'd have a good chance. Because that's the thing that keeps bothering him, that people keep acting like they're better people when he truly doesn't understand why what he did was so wrong. If we're able to frame it in a practical way, like: 'hey, we don't want you or anyone else getting hurt and think you should be able to defend yourself, and working on yourself would prove the people who don't like you wrong, and honestly you have nothing to lose so why not try' we might have a chance."

It's all about how they frame it.

"It's not even about talking openly, it's about him putting some sort of responsibility on us and listening when we tell him 'hey, that's fucked up and here's why'. Both about the things he's done and things that have been done to him."

They don't need him to buy in right away-- they just need him willing to listen.

"Maybe...maybe that would work!"

When framed like that it doesn't sound half bad! Well, also, CT over here mentioning being kind of manipulative would be the same thing Price had been doing to other people makes Filbo want to avoid the whole thing about subtlety. It'd be pretty hypocritical to be wary of Price and then do the same things at him.

Now that he thinks about it, Price did seem kind of convinced he was no match for almost everyone in the camp, that he was the one who was no threat to anyone. Hearing it might help him solve that could be a good negotiation point. It's worth a try!

"So...who would be the one to say it to him, supposing we go for this kinda pitch? It's not like all of us would be standing there while he's told all this, right?"

Truthfully, in Filbo's head the mental image of someone delivering this pitch while the other three stand nearby feels a lot like an intervention instead of an offer or a proposal of any sort.

Edited 2022-03-31 21:53 (UTC)

Saturday had meant her bald statement of their ethical predicament to evoke a response; it makes her like CT quite a bit that she can see how turnabout isn't fair play, not for something like this. The smile she flashes her is quick, but genuine.

She nods immediately at what Elle says, and Filbo's follow-up.

"That explains some shit. We didn't get super into it when I chatted with him - he was pretty adamant about not discussing the Dan thing, so I didn't push. But yeah, that jives. If we can figure a pitch that doesn't make him out to be a charity case..." She shrugs. "If we workshop what to say, I'm comfortable sayin' it."

CT nods to acknowledge the smile, even if she's too wired right now to actually give a proper one back in return.

"That... seems like the best approach we have, yeah. There's a chance me saying it would actually make him listen, but I— I can't. I just... can't. So..." She gestures vaguely. Whoever feels comfortable trying can have at it. "I can still try and help with wording, though."

It's interesting to see Filbo's reaction to the implication that manipulating Price is equivalent to what he did to CT.

(It's really, really not. Elle's only real objection to using manipulation as that a. it creates a question of consent that she's not comfortable with and b. it could create bigger problems in the future. The morality of it... she's spent a lot of time figuring out how to reconcile her job with her morals. She's kind of surprised Saturday is the one who brought up the ethics of it, out of the three of them, but Saturday's also the person most likely to look at the situation from similar angles as Elle, so she probably shouldn't be.)

"Even if you could, you shouldn't. You don't owe him anything."

Elle's voice is firm. She wants to say 'I wouldn't let you', but that's probably going a bit far. CT is her own person and Elle can't really stop her from doing anything if she doesn't want to resort to violence, which she super doesn't.

"I'd like to proposed what I'm calling a 'strike-out' rule. Basically, in any interaction Price gets one warning for doing or saying something fucked up. If he does something again, I walk away and try again later. He needs strictly held boundaries to keep him from using us to self-sabotage. No compromises.

"And I've already gotten Dan to agree to holding better boundaries, if he decides to continue his friendship with Price."

A pause. "Also, we should probably call him by his first name. Using last names only kind of serves to dehumanize him further, which is the opposite of what we're trying to do."

Elle has been spending a lot of time thinking about what steps she should take to help Price-- Aiden-- out. She's just been waiting for the right time to implement them.

"Better define what sorta mistakes warrant walking away, then. I mean, most of them are obvious, but if we're gonna set boundaries then we better make sure eeryone's on the same page on that"

Feels a little like trying to train an animal, all things considered. Unfortunate, but if it's that's what needs to be done...Filbo is kind of okay with doing something perhaps he shouldn't as long as it's not lawbreaking, until someone else points out perhaps it shouldn't be done, so he's all for this.

Edited 2022-03-31 23:11 (UTC)

"I'm not against using some system like that at some point, but I think we oughta take it slow. Get his permission, then maybe like... not quite so hard as that like, that's sorta disciplinarian?" Saturday frowns. "It'd be better to explain like, hey, that was fucked up, this is why, don't do it again. Then get into strikes an' such if it just keeps happening."

She shakes her head.

"But also, I think the first thing we do is get his permission and bring him onboard. If that's our plan? Then we can just ask him things like, would he rather be Aiden, or Price, or something else? How would he feel about this, what support does he think would be useful - I mean, shit, we're all pretty sure he doesn't even understand that there is anything wrong with him, much less what it is. This is gonna be slow going, an' we might not ever be able to do more'n palliative care." A snort. "Maybe we oughta bring in that Doctor Kent guy. If we think we can trust him."

CT manages to muster enough to give Elle a smile, at least, and a nod; it's true, she shouldn't even if she could handle it.

"I'm definitely not a good judge on that, my inclination to trust any mental health professional is... not high, after Price. He might be perfectly fine, and he answered Stacia's questions well, but..." She shakes her head. She honestly does need proper therapy herself, she knows that, but it'll take her a long, long time to come around to the idea of actually going to one. "So I'll leave that choice up to you guys."

"Here's the thing. The boundaries aren't only for our safety, they're for his. I honestly feel like it should be the other way around, more strict boundaries in the beginning then loosen them later. But that depends on our focus. Is our priority addressing his mental health or the him as a potential threat to himself and others? Because if it's the latter, we establish boundaries and get him performing appropriate behavior before he internalizes it, or the other way around.

"Without clearly set, consistent, and firmly enforced boundaries he's going to continue not to understand why people respond negatively to his behavior. I'm not saying we punish him, I'm saying we give him a tangible, non-destructive and non-judgmental consequence for his actions. Then we can try again later.

"Obviously if circumstances require something different then we can make that call, but I'm pushing for this because I think it's a good idea. He needs structure and boundaries and we need to maintain them."

"I mean, loosening them later is like rewarding good behavior!"

When Saturday mentions the local psychiatrist Filbo wastes no time to nod with enthusiasm. "I-I think we can talk to him! I don't...really wanna go into detail, but I went earlier today for reasons? He's pretty reasonable! And probably won't think it's weird if someone goes for advice on how to do this"

He's already pretty eager to vouch for him -- Filbo's handwaved session was productive, after all.

That aside...

"Either way, in general I think this plan is a good idea and probably should focus on him being a potential threat to himself and others. Just...generally speaking I have a little, um, too much experience seeing a fractured community. I don't think this is close to causing a divide among all us yet, but unchecked interpersonal conflict tends to, well, turning into something far worse. If he's a threat then this could turn ugly fast"

Filbo has been gushing about how surprisingly well this group gets along, compared to his past experiences. It'd be such a shame to see it ruined because of something making cracks in the group unity, and Price would be at the center of it all, even perhaps not intentionally.

"I know perhaps it's a little...um..." how to word it... "...maybe defensive to focus on how he affects others, first? But I dunno, even though helping his mental health would be good and probably would solve problems too we probably aren't qualified to know the right moves to do about that right away. Addressing his mental health may have to wait for a later point"

That's his opinion, at least. Filbo, in general, has the community in general as his focus, instead of Price as a person. He thinks that's how a mayor should focus on, at least. True, he's not a mayor here, but he takes his job seriously and that includes taking situations with this mindset, he's sure.

Edited 2022-04-01 00:44 (UTC)

"Look, I just think making any plan other than, offer it an' see if he bites, is gettin' ahead of ourselves. That's gonna be hard enough. An' honestly, Elle, what you're proposing is something that is just not gonna work unless he's willing to go along with it. We don't know if he is. Unless we want to go back to sneaky shit, there's just no way any plan we make works if he's not 100% on board with it.

"An' I wanna say again my bit about, we don't even know that he understands when he's doin' disturbin' shit. He's an adult. He has a mind, he can spoken to an' reasoned with. Maybe I am misunderstanding but it sounds t'me like you're suggesting we just sorta condition him into actin' right by cuttin' him off from socialization whenever he does something we don't like, without explainin', an' trust him to figure it out. That seems a little unhelpful to me.

"The this with Dan an' Bunny was alarming, an' a danger sign, but I'd point out in his defense that it was, what, two, three years we were stuck on the rig? My personal timeline got a little fucked in there, 'cause - well, bullshit I can get into later. Anyway, it's been a good stretch without him lashing out, and we all had a real rough landing. It could be that he's only just starting to deteriorate. Could be it was a one-time freak.

"Either way, I'm not comfortable coming up with a lesson plan until we know we have a student. He barely knows us. Probably doesn't trust any of us. Hell, we barely know him, 'cept CT, and she had a specific perspective on 'im. We start slow and simple, build rapport, be people he can interact with instead of anyone vulnerable, an' see what happens."

Saturday coughs at the end of that speech, uncomfortable. That was so many words.

Edited 2022-04-01 01:18 (UTC)

"It is probably worth hammering out the last of the details once we actually know he'll buy into it, because if he won't... we're back to square one, anyway. Building up any sort of trust with him will be a nightmare, my trust issues are bad enough and I at least have perspective from a time before I had them to know that they're something I need to work past, but Price..."

She sighs and shrugs.

"It certainly feels like that's not the case with him. This is going to be a steep ask, not that I doubt any of you guy's ability to give it a damn good go and hopefully get somewhere."

Edited 2022-04-01 01:24 (UTC)

It takes effort not to continue arguing her point, but Saturday's right in the sense that they shouldn't plan anything until they know what they're working with. Elle, as usual, is getting ahead of herself.

(She wouldn't ask anyone to walk away without explanation. Of course telling him what he did wrong is part of it.)

(It's not about social isolation, it's about person safety for ~~Price~~ Aiden and them.)

(So much of human social behavior is conditioning. Hell, a lot of recovery is conditioning. She firmly believes that if there aren't clear boundaries that have been set and explained, and continue to be explained as they're enforced, Aiden will struggle even more. If they're doing this with his cooperation, everything needs to be done with consent and transparency. They're talking about helping Aiden learn the tools that a lot of people learn when they're children, but he's an adult and can do more damage. And children get put in time out. Walking away with the promise that they aren't abandoning him, they're giving them both some space so no one gets hurt, and trying again later feels like a good evolution of that.)

"No, I don't think he understands what why what he did is upsetting, and why his apology made things worse," she sighs. "I also think, at this point, he's a bigger danger to himself than anyone else."

"When I talked to him back in Rivendell, well, he told me he was frustrated people would twist his words and actions. Acting like he was making things up while he was trying to make himself understood."

And he felt pretty strongly about it. In Filbo's opinion, it's very possible Price is right about that, but that doesn't mean he had been approached with bad intentions.

"I don't think the idea's a bad one, Elle, with a little work. I just don't think it's wise to lay any plans until we earn his trust an' consent on the matter."

She nods at Filbo. "Yeah, I got some of that, too. 'Swhy I'm thinkin' this is gonna be a slow boil. I don't think anyone's had intentional bad faith about it, but it does tell me that my man has serious issues with communication an' with basic like, uh, what's it called. When you become aware that other people don't know or see what you do. Not empathy, the other thing. Aw, whatever, you know what I mean. Anyway, I wanna get back to step one: how are we gonna pitch it? Like, what phrasing does the ambassador use? Should we go together, or just the ambassador - the person pitchin' it to him? Should there be snacks?"

She grins a bit, because the last one wasn't quite serious.

"Sounds like penny-ante shit, but when someone's on high alert, the small things matter."

“I would put money on him feeling like people are twisting his words because he thinks he’s putting something across that his words aren’t actually getting across the way he meant it. Classic miscommunication, he knows what he means to say and feels like he’s being deliberately misunderstood when it’s really that he just… doesn’t know how to express certain things in a way others will understand.”

CT fiddles with the end of her braid with another sigh.

“Anyway, I think just one person. Three of you,” not four, since they’ve established CT cannot go near this, “would seem too much like backing him into a corner. One-on-one is less… y’know. Overbearing? No, that’s not the right word… you know what I mean.”

"I also think he weighs things differently. Bunny approached him about what he did to Dan the next morning. Pri-- Aiden-- didn't understand why physically lashing out at an injured person was treated differently that the emotional pain he was felt. He felt like his words were being misconstrued because Bunny was focused on why he pushed Dan and not what Dan made him feel."

Elle would bet money that at least half the time people understand what he's saying perfectly, they just don't react the way he wants them to so in his head they must have deliberately misinterpreted his words, because if they understood they would be responding in the way he desires.

"I think Saturday should approach him. I'm pretty sure he has me labeled 'meddling nuisance' in his head already," which, you know, fair "Filbo, you're his roommate and if the offer gets received poorly that'll fuck up that whole situation."

She doesn't bother listing why CT shouldn't do it because CT isn't an option.

Welp, looks like that's it. Saturday indeed is the best option. Filbo gives her an apologetic look.

"Sorry you're getting saddled with that, Saturday"

That can't be a pleasant task ahead, he's sure. Still, it's what needs to be done.

"Why sorry? I volunteered." From a certain angle, you could even argue it was her idea. "Ain't my first rodeo, anyhow. So, do we wanna workshop a script, or am I winging it?"

CT nods her head to the side once. "I'd almost argue for something in-between. At least a vague idea of what you should say, but maybe not something that's obviously a script. He'll definitely be able to spot something recited word for word from a mile off, it might come across better if it at least sounds improvised."

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